Honeybee Colony Removed From Downtown Building

A colony of bees found a new home Friday afternoon, after area beekeepers performed an elaborate extraction from a building in downtown Fort Smith.

A colony of bees found a new home Friday afternoon, after area beekeepers performed an elaborate extraction from a building in downtown Fort Smith.

Doug Lively, president of the Western Arkansas Eastern Oklahoma Beekeepers Association, wore a large smile Friday morning as he unloaded beekeeping gear from his vehicle. Protective suits, screened helmets and thick gloves lined the sidewalks around the KFSM building on North 13th Street, but members of the Beekeepers Association decided to forgo the coverings to get a chance to see the bees up close before dismantling the colony.

Mike Vaughn managed an airlift to bring members up to see the colony. Leslye Buol, who joined the association last year, carefully broke off an exterior fin of the colony and beamed as she brought down the honey-filled piece of wax.

“I went up just so I could get real close and look at them,” she said, “It’s just a wonder, it’s a wonder of God. Oh man, it’s beautiful.”

She broke open the honeycomb to share it with fellow beekeepers. “You’ve got to taste it,” the members echoed, dipping their fingers into the amber liquid. “Pure honey.”

KFSM General Manager Van Comer called the beekeepers association nearly a year and a half ago, Lively said.

“We’ve waited because during the summer there are just too many bees,” he said. “In a couple months there will probably be between 75,000-100,000 bees, which is a lot to contend with when you get up on a lift.”

Association members made special boxes to temporarily house the bees, and precise warming devices to keep them safe lined a large table just beside the lift.

“We’ll peel out the fins of wax and get down to the nucleus of the colony, and then take the whole thing off and put it in a box, then take it to a location where it can be taken apart and preserved,” Lively said. “What we’re trying to do is save the bees.”

Tony Matthews, secretary/treasurer of the association, noted that honeybees are shockingly important to the global food supply, contributing to one-third of all the food people eat.

“There are things that are really fighting against the honeybee: CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder,) pesticides and herbicides,” said Lively, explaining that this colony of bees has been especially resilient through several cold winters despite its unconventional location.

Lively hoped that the colony, once removed and disassembled, would provide an opportunity to breed genetically superior queens to distribute to association members and strengthen the local honeybee population.

The beekeepers association has more than 100 members, and meets at the Janet Huckabee River Valley Nature Center the second Tuesday of each month.

For budding beekeepers, or people simply interested in the honeybee, the group is offering a free three-part beekeeping class at the nature center; it is open to the public.

The first class on Feb. 25 will cover bee hives, equipment and honeybee biology. The second class, on March 4, will offer tips on seasonal colony management, and the third, on March 11, will offer advice on keeping hives healthy.

For information on the beekeeping classes, call the Sebastian County Cooperation Extension office at (479) 484-7737.